Bombay HC quashes domestic violence proceedings against daughter filed by mother

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday quashed domestic violence proceedings against a 23-year-old woman registered by her mother, observing that the daughter was “caught in a crossfire of acrimony and matrimonial discord” between her parents.

The court observed that the statement made against the daughter about having several boyfriends was “exaggerated” and a single allegation against her of assaulting the mother was “inherently improbable”, and therefore the daughter deserved to get relief.

The court also held that such allegations had arisen out of anger of the woman against her daughter as she continued to stay with her father.

A division bench of Justice S S Shinde and Justice Manish Pitale passed a ruling on writ petition by the daughter, who sought directions to quash a domestic violence case against her in 2018.

Advocate Kenny Thakkar for the petitioner submitted that the proceeding under the Domestic Violence Act was initiated against the husband of the respondent woman and the daughter was unnecessarily made a party to the case, as she continued to stay with her father.

She submitted that the mother’s complaint had mostly alleged offences against the father and there was only one allegation of violence by the daughter without corroboration, and as such the case was not maintainable.

Thakkar also submitted that the daughter wanted to go to Australia to pursue further education from May 2021 and the criminal proceedings would prevent her from applying for a visa.

Advocate M Moses for the respondent mother submitted that the daughter was seeking relief on the pretext of the visit to Australia to escape prosecution during trial. He submitted photographs supporting claims of assault by the daughter and sought dismissal of the plea. The court also noted that there are certain statements made about the character of the petitioner and that she allegedly has many boyfriends.

After hearing submissions, Justice Pitale, who authored the judgement, observed, “The petitioner is a young woman, who has just graduated and her future depends upon how she is able to improve her educational qualifications and develop her personality. It is only in the interest of justice, that this aspect of the matter is also taken into consideration. It is surprising that her own mother is hell-bent upon creating obstructions in her progress.”

The material on record indicates that the bitterness in the matrimonial relationship has spiked over to the children, particularly against the petitioner. This has resulted in the said exaggerated statement and single allegation levelled against the petitioner about alleged assault on the respondent mother.”